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Tableland Yidinji People and Tablelands Regional Council Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)

Date: 10 December 2010
Sub Category:Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act)
Place:Tolga
State/Country:Queensland, Australia
The ILUA area covers about 423 square kilometres of land and waters located in and around Tolga, approximately 22 kilometres south-west of Cairns and north of Atherton. The ILUA area includes Lake Tinaroo and is located within the jurisdiction of Tablelands Regional Council.
Legal Status: Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements on 10 December 2010. This is an Area Agreement under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth).
Legal Reference: National Native Title Tribunal File No. QI2010/023.
Subject Matter:Consultation | Cultural Heritage | Local Government | Native Title
URL: http://www.nntt.gov.au/Indigenous-Land-Use-Agreements/Search-Registered-ILUAs/ILUA%20Register/2010/QI2010.023/ILUARegisterExport.pdf
Summary Information:
The Tableland Yidinji People and Tablelands Regional Council ILUA was agreed between:
- Tablelands Regional Council;
- Tableland Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation; and
- Mr Lloyd Stewart (aka Con Stewart), Ms Evelyn (Dawn) Johnson and Mrs Catherine (Nola) Joseph on behalf of those claimants in the Tableland Yidinji People native title claim (Federal Court File No: QUD6030/99) and the Tableland Yidinji People (#3) native title claim (Federal Court File No: QUD208/04).

The purpose of the ILUA is to provide protection for Aboriginal cultural heritage and establish a consultation framework for development in the ILUA area. Tablelands Regional Council Mayor, Tom Gilmore, remarked that the ILUA provided 'a clear process for delivering infrastructure in a timely manner, with consideration of native title and cultural heritage compliance' (see National Native Title Tribunal Media Release).

Tableland Yidinji elder, Catherine Joseph, suggested that the ILUA provided a chance for employment for the Tableland Yidinji people, although details of this have not been provided in the National Native Title Tribunal Register Extract.

The agreement was based on a template ILUA developed between the Local Government Association of Queensland and numerous native title claimant groups.
Detailed Information:
To be covered by this ILUA, the relevant future act must be expressly or impliedly done in a manner consistent with the ILUA. Where the future act is not covered by the ILUA, it must still comply with the provisions set out in the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth).

Prospective consent to Low Native Title Impact Activities

The parties consent to the performance of Low Native Title Impact Activities by the Council. A full list of those Low Native Title Impact Activities can be found at Schedule 8, attached to the National Native Title Tribunal Register Extract. They include:
- maintenance, repair, protection or making safe of existing infrastructure
- the construction or establishment of infrastructure in prescribed situations (for example, to respond to an emergency or threat). In such situations, the infrastructure will be classified as 'Low Impact Infrastructure'.
- any activity involving the grant of statutory approvals
- any activity involving the grant, issue, dedication (for public use), renewal or creation of an interest in land or waters (so long as that interest does not fall within a category of High Impact Tenure Grants)
- pest control activities
- activities designed to carry out an operational function of one of the local governments (as long as they are not classified as having a High Native Title Impact)
- access and site investigation activities.

There is a unique instance where an act may deemed to have a 'Low Native Title Impact' but still must adhere to certain procedural requirements. This is when there is the proposed construction of a capital work (infrastructure such as roads and sewerage systems designed to outlast the term of any particular council). In these circumstances, construction may proceed following the convening of a 'Capital Works Forum', in which it is decided that the works constitute a 'Low Native Title Impact'.

Prospective consent to High Native Title Impact Activities

A full list of those High Native Title Impact Activities can be found at Schedule 9, attached to the National Native Title Tribunal Register Extract. They include:
- the establishment of infrastructure which cannot be classified as 'Low Impact Infrastructure' (see above for details of what may be classified as Low Impact Infrastructure)
- Capital Works deemed at a Capital Works Forum to be of 'High Native Title Impact'
- High Impact Tenure Grants (which includes leases classified as Permitted Leases (for which a definition is not provided within the extract) and freehold grants)
- anything which prevents the exercise and enjoyment of native title rights and interest (unless the act is temporary, undertaken for reasons of public health, done pursuant to a permitted lease or required by law)
- construction of infrastructure etc in an area prescribed as the 'Tolga Shrub'.

Where an act constitutes a High Native Title Impact Activity and also constitutes a capital work, the relevant local councils must receive consensus for such works to be carried out.

Where an act constitutes a High Native Title Impact Activity but does not constitute a capital work, the relevant local councils must comply with certain consultation provisions prescribed in the ILUA.

Retrospective validation of certain acts

The ILUA validates certain past acts (acts done before the ILUA was executed). These acts must have been valid for native title purposes and must not extinguish native title rights or interests. A detailed list of these acts can be found at Schedule 11, attached to the National Native Title Tribunal Register Extract. They includes:
- activities involving the construction of roads outside a prescribed Road Reserve
- activities involving the improvement or maintenance of land or waters in the ILUA Area by the Council
- grants of an interest in land or water to the Council
- grants of a statutory approval for the benefit of the Council.

General provisions

The parties agree that the right to negotiate provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) do not apply.

Native Title in the ILUA Area

The ILUA area is located within the claim area of the following active native title claims:
- the Tableland Yidinji People native title claim (Federal Court File No: QUD6030/99). This claim was filed with the Tribunal on 25 October 1999. The claim area covers land in the vicinity of the Atherton Tableland area.
- the Tableland Yidinji People (#3) native title claim (Federal Court File No: QUD208/04). This claim was filed with the Tribunal on 14 October 2004. The claim area covers approximately 273 square kilometres of land and waters around Atherton, Tolga and Walkamin.

Related Entries

  • Johnson on behalf of the Tableland Yidinji People v State of Queensland [2012] FCA 1417
  • Johnson on behalf of the Tableland Yidinji People 3 v State of Queensland [2013] FCA 280
  • Organisation
  • Tablelands Regional Council
  • Wadjanbarra Tableland Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
  • People
  • Mr Lloyd Stewart (aka Con Stewart), Ms Evelyn (Dawn) Johnson and Mrs Catherine (Nola) Joseph on their own behalf and on behalf of the Tableland Yidinji People

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